Brasilia, Brazil, 29 March - 3 April 1999
Research Into Practice: From Practice, Research
Tim Stonor and David Rosenberg
Space Syntax Laboratory
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
(Torrington Place Site)
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
England
tel (44) (0)171 813 4364
fax (44) (0)171 813 4363
email t.stonor@ucl.ac.uk
www http://www.spacesyntax.com
This paper reports the genesis, development and presentation of the recently
completed World Squares For All masterplan for the Whitehall area of central
London by a Norman Foster led design team. The paper has two aims. First,
to describe the way in which Space Syntax techniques of detailed observation
and configurational analysis have played a central role in the masterplan
process - from generating design ideas to the process of public and private
consultation. Second, to describe how Space Syntax techniques were advanced
by the discovery of phenomena which existing methods gave an approximate
account of, but fell short of fully explaining.
The paper will introduce the phenomenon of "necessity to innovate"
and suggest that the applied research activities of the Space Syntax Laboratory,
University College London make an essential contribution to the process
of researching the built environment. They do this by bringing knowledge
to bear on real-world issues, developing that knowledge through the dynamic
of the design process, and feeding the developed knowledge back into the
process of research.
Finally, the paper will speculate that the phenomenon of "necessity
to innovate" is common to the activities of Researcher and Architect
alike, and required by their participation in processes which engage the
dynamic of society. The relationship developed between the Space Syntax
Laboratory UCL and Foster and Partners over ten years of close collaboration
is evidence of this, where the World Squares project represents the latest
opportunity to advance research knowledge through the demanding rigour
of practice.
_______________________________
_______________________________